Drive Seeks to Overturn New Districts

A group of people trying to overturn the recently released redistricting plan for California's state Senate were given a green light Friday to begin collecting signatures by Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

• Previously:

In order to qualify the referendum to the ballot, backers must gather 504,760 valid signatures from registered voters by Nov. 13. The 504,760 number represents 5 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 general election.

According to Dave Gilliard, a consultant for the redistricting movement, a successful referendum drive would block the new map for state Senate from going into effect for the 2012 election. The state Supreme Court would be required to draw new lines.

The new map of 40 Senate districts drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission . The city is currently part of the 28th District, which is represented by Sen. Ted Lieu.

The Citizens Redistricting Commission, a group consisting of five Republicans, five Democrats and four decline-to-state voters, has defended the redistricting plan.

The referendum drive is being sponsored by a group called Fairness & Accountability in Redistricting. The California Republican Party, former Gov. Pete Wilson and several Republican state senators are also supporting the drive.

City News Service contributed to this report.